


red stains.

by seekrest



Series: febuwhump 2020. [4]
Category: Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: (Or is it?), Angst, F/M, Hurt Peter Parker, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Protective Michelle Jones, Protective Peter Parker, Time Travel Fix-It, inspired by the time machine
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-04
Updated: 2020-02-04
Packaged: 2021-02-27 18:22:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,334
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22560124
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/seekrest/pseuds/seekrest
Summary: “Told you I’d be here by six.” Michelle says, her voice muffled by how tightly he’s holding her.He brings her out of the embrace before kissing her so fiercely that it makes her head spin, feeling out of breath when he finally leans back and says, “I know, I just—“Peter cuts himself off, an unreadable expression on his face as he searches hers.“I missed you.”
Relationships: Michelle Jones/Peter Parker
Series: febuwhump 2020. [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1619581
Comments: 43
Kudos: 167





	red stains.

**Author's Note:**

> I can count on one hand how many fluff pieces I have planned for febuwhump.
> 
> ...this isn’t one of them.

Michelle walks up the stairs and out of the subway stop, the cold air rushing past her in a way that sends a shiver down her spine.

She pauses for a moment, inexplicably feeling like she’s having déjà-vu - blinking as she takes in her surroundings.

The city looks as it always does, cold and overcast - nothing out of the ordinary.

Michelle can’t help but feel like she’s done this before, something she shrugs off as unimportant considering how often her and Peter met up after work. 

She rubs her arms together, forcing herself forward and out towards Central Park - only to see Peter appear almost out of nowhere, walking straight to her with a tight smile on his face.

“Hey, hey. You’re here.” He immediately leans in, enveloping her into the kind of hug that she’s come to rely on from him - tight, all consuming - the mix of sweat, formaldehyde from his lab and faint traces of cologne overwhelming her senses as she laughs and hugs him back.

“Told you I’d be here by six.” Michelle says, her voice muffled by how tightly he’s holding her. 

He brings her out of the embrace before kissing her so fiercely that it makes her head spin, feeling out of breath when he finally leans back and says, “I know, I just—“ 

Peter cuts himself off, an unreadable expression on his face as he searches hers. 

“I missed you.”

Michelle laughs, leaning forward to giving him another quick kiss before bringing her hand into his - the warmth of Peter’s hand interlacing with hers making her smile as he continues to stare straight into her eyes. 

“I saw you this morning, Pete. We need to work on your codependency.”

Peter lets out something like a laugh but it almost sounds strangled, looking like he wanted to say something but choosing not to - squeezing her hand instead.

Michelle tilts her head to the side, the feeling of déjà-vu from earlier still draped all around her before shrugging it off - going to walk towards their usual spot in Central Park when he stops, eyes studying the entrance.

“What’s wrong?” She asks, wondering if his senses were telling him something from the way his mouth tightened and his eyes hardened.

He waits for a beat, Michelle watching the flood of emotions that pass over his face.

“Nothing, nothing I was just thinking,” he begins, Michelle not believing a word he’s saying as he says, “why don’t we head to the Met instead?”

Michelle gives him a look but says nothing, wondering if her interpretation of what tonight was supposed to be was wrong.

She’d gotten hints for the last month - whispered conversations she’d overheard between Peter and May on the phone, Peter not so subtly slamming his laptop down anytime she walked past.

They’d talked about getting married for the past year, the timing was right and for as much as she joked that she was going to propose to him - she knew Peter had always mentioned using his mother’s engagement ring, something that felt almost wrong to rob him of giving to her in a way she knew he would want to.

Michelle had been convinced that tonight - a few weeks before Valentine’s to not be a total cliche but close enough that they could take advantage of “couples only” dinner deals - was going to be the night, guessing that if she knew Peter as well as she thought she did - he’d propose to her in the Park, by the Alice in Wonderland statues because of how gloriously creepy it was.

Peter’s diversion seems to throw her for a moment only for her to smile, thinking that even if it wasn’t tonight it really didn’t matter.

She loved Peter Parker. She’d marry him whenever he asked. 

“Sure, sounds great.” She finally says, letting Peter lead her across the street and towards the museum’s steps.

“How was your day?” Michelle asks, noting how distracted Peter is - his head whipping around like there was some untold danger coming.

He was acting nervous, on-edge — almost as if he was hiding something from her. If it wasn’t a proposal, Michelle was at a loss - narrowing her eyes as he replied. 

“Fine, it was fine.” He says quickly, biting his lip before glancing at her as they make their way to the other side.

“Actually, why don’t we just go home?” He asks, Michelle frowning as she takes Peter in.

He’s vibrating with anticipation - something she’d first mistaken for nervousness and now she can see clearly is from fear, something that sets her on edge as he shakes his head, his grip tightening in her hand as he says, “Come on, MJ. Let’s go home.”

“Peter—“

“Please.” His voice is tight, strained as he turns to look at her - seeing the kind of grief that she hasn’t seen on his face in years, not since Tony Stark had died.

It feels like the wind’s knocked out of her, immediately trusting Peter as she nods - his relieved expression throwing her off even more as she says, “Okay. Okay, let’s go home.”

Peter takes a step towards the opposite direction of the Met, Michelle barely keeping up with him when they cross an alleyway - Peter immediately sending a hand out in front of her so fast that she’s almost knocked over from the force of it.

“Give me your wallet.”

Peter tenses up, Michelle’s eyes narrowing as she looks towards where the voice had come from - seeing the man with the gun pointed at them.

It was as if everyone else on the street had vanished, the city almost going quiet as the three of them stared at each other.

“You don’t want to do this.” Peter says, the protective stance he has over her making her want to take a step forward - knowing that for as relatively invincible that Peter was that he still wasn’t bulletproof, not any more than she was, especially out in the open without a suit.

But she doesn’t, watching the man with the gun’s mouth turn into a twisted smile as he says, “You know, I think I do. Give me your wallet.” 

Michelle’s completely surprised when he takes it out and shoves it at him, one hand extended out and another shielding her before saying, “Here. Take it, take it all just— just let us go.”

Peter almost sounds like he’s bargaining with the man, something she can’t understand when she knows that he could send a quick punch and any mugger would be taken down in an instant.

The overwhelming sense of déjà-vu is ringing in the back of her mind, trying to make sense of why when she hadn’t been mugged in years. 

The man with the gun himself seems surprised, barely catching the wallet as Peter subtly leads the two of them away - walking sideways on the sidewalk with Michelle still behind him before the guy says, “And your pockets, anything in them.”

Michelle can see Peter grind his teeth but then reach into them, throwing the little velvet black box that confirms what this night’s original plan had been - something that makes her question what the hell he’s doing even more so, knowing how precious that ring is to him.

“That’s it. That’s all we have. You got what you wanted, man. We’re gonna go.” Peter says, his voice hard and filled with the kind of venom that she’s never heard before when the man with the gun laughs, pointing his weapon towards her.

“You think I don’t see she’s got a purse? Hand it over.”

“Like hell I’m—“ Michelle begins only to be immediately cut off.

“Just do it, MJ.”

His voice is strained still, Michelle would almost say she can see tears in his eyes - a wild panic in them that shocks her enough to take the strap off her shoulder and throw it towards the man with the gun.

She tries to search his eyes, to see what’s wrong but Peter’s attention is back to the man - taking another step back with a hand still extended towards him.

“We don’t have anything else. We’re gonna leave now.”

The man seems to consider it for a beat, Peter taking another step back before Michelle sees something dark flash in the man’s eyes, panic shooting straight through her as he says, “But you’ve seen my face now. Can’t let you walk away.”

It’s as if time moves in slow motion, Michelle hearing the gunshot - hearing Peter’s panicked yell and the immediate feeling of being thrown back, her neck and her back screaming at her as she hits the pavement. 

Distantly she hears a scream, her head pounding as she tries to sit up - only to be weighted down by something else, her whole body freezing in terror when she realizes it’s not something, but someone.

The wound in Peter’s chest is dark, the blood immediately staining his light blue shirt - just peeking through his jacket - Michelle immediately sitting up, bracing his head in her lap as she presses down.

“Pete, Peter look at me. Look at me okay?”

He coughs, a trickle of blood coming out of his mouth that just sets her off further - glancing around as people start to stare at them in shock.

“Call 911. You,” she looks directly towards someone who has a cellphone in their hands - seeing their shocked expression before saying, “Call 911, now.”

Distantly, Michelle knows that calling 911 for Peter is a bad idea - the possible risk to his identity being an ever present threat.

But Michelle is more concerned about the fact that he’s seemingly bleeding out from underneath her hands, the pressure she’s placing on his chest doing nothing as he wheezes.

“MJ—“

“It’s okay, it’s okay. I’m right here. You’re gonna be okay.” Michelle says, the deep red from the wound in his chest growing larger - running over her hands as she tries to swallow down her panic.

Peter shakes his head, his eyes looking more glassy and unfocused than she would like as he says, “This is— this is better.”

“What?” Michelle says, his face relaxing as he pants.

“I couldn’t— I couldn’t stop it.”

“Peter, you need to just— just don’t talk okay?” Michelle says, the panic churning in her chest as she sees more blood trickle out his mouth as he speaks - Peter coughing again as he shakes his head more forcefully.

“No matter what— what I did. You— you always—“

“Come on, Pete. Just— we can talk later okay?” Michelle feels the hot tears in her eyes, swallowing down the fear in her throat as she says, “You can tell me later.”

“You always die.” Peter wheezes, Michelle freezing while she stares into his eyes.

“What?”

“The park. The street. No matter what— what I do,” he wheezes, blinking a few times as if the words he was saying took an enormous amount of effort, “you always die.”

“Peter, what are you talking about?” Michelle asks, seeing the way his breathing starts to quicken - the panic rolling around in her gut even more as she presses down further on his chest.

His eyes start to flutter, Michelle shaking him slightly. “No, no, don’t do this. Don’t do this to me, Pete.”

His eyes open, looking back at her with a look of resignation - something that terrifies her more than anything else she’s ever seen as he says, “Maybe this will finally st—stop it. Maybe this is how to s-save you.”

“Peter—“

“Tell Strange th—thank you.” He wheezes, bringing a hand to her face - Michelle’s heart breaking as the tears fall down her face.

“Tell him yourself. You’re gonna be okay, Pete.” Her voice breaks - the look on Peter’s face telling her what her gut doesn’t want to accept, her mind trying to make sense of what he was saying. 

“I love y—you.” Peter gasps, Michelle watching in terror as his skin starts to pale - distantly hearing sirens in the background.

“I love you. I love you, Peter. Please. Please. Just stay with me okay? Stay with me.”

Peter just blinks, wheezes once more then stops - her whole body shaking when she realizes that his eyes are distant, staring off into nowhere - a gaze that doesn’t see her anymore.

Michelle’s whole body grows numb - frozen in place until she’s forcibly moved away, going to fight whoever would do so only to realize its paramedics - seconds too late from being able to help.

She can hear one of them looking over her, asking her questions but there’s a ringing in her ears - the whole world going out of focus as her hands shake, looking down on them to see the blood from Peter’s chest stained all over them, her shirt, her jeans.

Michelle lets out a sharp gasp, feeling the weight of her loss as the world continues to spin out of focus - the cold crawling all over from the wind but more from the knowledge of something deep in her gut.

The knowledge that Peter was gone. That this night had been something he’d clearly lived through, her creeping suspicion that the déjà-vu she’d been feeling hadn’t been déjà-vu at all. 

That this had been a night that Peter had lived that had ended differently. 

And that he’d had the chance to do it over again. Michelle can feel herself continue to grow numb until something else starts to take hold - a conviction in her gut just as strong as the grief and the terror threatening overwhelm her.

Strange had clearly given Peter the chance to redo this night over, her eyes going to where Peter was and the paramedics working in vain to save him.

Michelle swallows down her grief as best she can and looks out into the city - to wherever Strange could be - convinced that she was willing to do whatever it took to make sure she could bargain with him.

That _she_ could relive this night over this time.

And actually make it right. 

**Author's Note:**

> Kudos and comments are always appreciated.
> 
> [ Come hang out with me on tumblr. ](https://seek-rest.tumblr.com)


End file.
